Parliament has decided to transfer the regulation of Claims Management Companies to the Financial Conduct Authority. This transfer is due to take place on 1 April 2019.The Act of Parliament dealing with this transfer, the Financial Guidance and Claims Act 2018, was passed into law on 10 May 2018.
As part of the transfer, the responsibility for dealing with complaints about Claims Management Companies will move from the Legal Ombudsman to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Everyone involved is working towards a transfer date of 1 April 2019, but we will let you know if this changes. We will do everything we can to conclude your complaint as soon as possible. However you need to be aware that, if your complaint has not been concluded by 1 April 2019, it will be transferred to the Financial Ombudsman Service We will try to make this transfer as smooth as possible.
If your complaint has not been concluded by 1 April 2019, we will transfer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The power to deal with Claims Management Companies complaints will also transfer to the Financial Ombudsman Service, and they will continue the investigation and make a decision following our Scheme Rules (a copy of which can be found on our website).
If you do not want your complaint to transfer to the Financial Ombudsman Service, please let us know. This will mean that your complaint will be treated as ‘withdrawn’ and will be closed. Please be aware that you will not be able to raise the same complaint with the Financial Ombudsman Service at a later date.
If, after 1 April 2019, you wish to complain about the service provided by a Claims Management Company, you will need to take your complaint directly to the Financial Ombudsman Service. If you receive a final decision, but the Claims Management Company does not do what the ombudsman told them to do, we will only be able to enforce this decision for you if we started court proceedings before 1 April 2019.
You are still able to enforce the final decision yourself but you may wish to take advice from your local Citizens Advice or similar organisation.
You can visit our privacy page to find out how we use your personal data. We comply with data protection rules at all times. You can contact our dedicated team at infosec@legalombudsman.org.uk for further information about this and any freedom of information requests.
